For fans of automotive design, an auto show can be just as much art show as car show. But Mercedes’ display at the 2011 Detroit auto show contained something arguably more sculptural than automotive: an organic, skeletal, flower-like thing saddled with the decidedly unsexy name of “Aesthetics No. 2.”

As the title of this composition would suggest, this isn’t the first time Mercedes has done this. You may remember last year’s Detroit show, at which Mercedes unveiled a sculpture that previewed the new CLS’s body shape as if it were rising from under a silken drape. This year’s convoluted sculpture, in the words of chief designer Gorden Wagener, follows nature’s inspiration: “Soft, gentle, and infinitely beautiful is her manner of dealing with her resources, creating impressive aesthetics ever anew.” Mmmkay.

This being Mercedes, it is no coincidence that the sculpture hints at something automotive. In this case, however, the future of the brand’s interior design is not confined by the dimensions of a specific automobile, which allows it to be scaled up by about 50 percent. “The seating environment recalls the image of the gigantic wings of a majestic ray fish,” says the press release, while the area in front of the (very large) driver evokes the look of a dashboard, complete with aggressive round air vents—they’ll be found on future models, such as Benz’s next-gen front-drivers. The sculpture’s symmetrical layout reveals that driver orientation may not be high on the list of priorities.

Thanks for that, Mercedes. And now we return to our regularly scheduled car show . . .